Creating Plastic Parts - Inventor 2013 and Inventor LT 2013 Essentials - page 206

Splitting Bodies
You can generate almost any sketched feature as a new body by simply selecting
the New solid option in the dialog box used to create that feature (i.e., extrude,
revolve, loft). You can also use a plane or sketch geometry to split a face, remove
a portion of a body, or even divide a solid model into separated bodies. To use
the Split tool in this model, you will use a plane that will define the boundary
between the two bodies:
1. Verify that the 2013 Essentials project file is active, and then open
c09-03.ipt from the Parts\Chapter​9 folder.
2. Start the Split tool from the Modify panel of the 3D Model tab.
3. Click the Split Solid option in the dialog box, and click the visible work
plane on the part or the Splitting Plane 1 feature in the Browser.
4. Click OK to break the part into two bodies.
5. In the Browser, expand the Solid Bodies folder to see the new solids
that have been added.
6. Rename Solid2 to Front and Solid3 to Back by clicking the name twice
slowly, as you would rename a file in Windows Explorer.
7. Click the solids individually from the Browser, and change their colors
using the drop-down in the Quick Access toolbar. My choices are shown
applied to the solid in Figure 9.4.
FIGURE 9.4 Once the solid is split into
multiple bodies, you can treat them differently.
You can divide and subdivide a body as many times as needed to suit your needs.
You can also use an extrusion to cut a part and then use the shared sketch to create
a new body to form interlocking components.